Everyone knows that stress can cause you to eat — but a new study confirms that those who find themselves frequently overwhelmed can develop a dependency on bad-for-you comfort foods.
Researchers published in the journal Neuron said that stress can override components of the brain that treat sweets and junk food as occasional rewards — making us crave them everyday.
“We showed that chronic stress, combined with a high-calorie diet, can drive more and more food intake as well as a preference for sweet, highly palatable food, thereby promoting weight gain and obesity,” said senior author Herbert Herzog of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
“Our findings reveal stress can override a natural brain response that diminishes the pleasure gained from eating — meaning the brain is continuously rewarded to eat…when experienced over long periods of time, stress appears to change the equation, driving eating that is bad for the body long term.”
Specifically, the scientists focused on the brain’s lateral habenula, which regulated the reward signals of food.
In a study with mice, the lateral habenula “was active” and prevented overconsumption of high-fat diets in a control state.
“However, when mice were chronically stressed, this part of the brain remained silent — allowing the reward signals to stay active and encourage feeding for pleasure, no longer responding to satiety regulatory signals,” said author Dr. Kenny Chi Kin Ip.
“We found that stressed mice on a high-fat diet gained twice as much weight as mice on the same diet that were not stressed.”
A particular molecule produced by the brain in times of stress called NPY is also to blame. When NPY was blocked from reaching the lateral habenula in test mice, they opted for less comfort food and lesser weight gain.
Another test using water artificially sweetened with sucralose proved that there is also an inclination for the brain to dive right into its proverbial sweet tooth stash.
“Stressed mice on a high-fat diet consumed three times more sucralose than mice that were on a high-fat diet alone,” added Herzog.
This suggests, he said, “that stress not only activates more reward when eating but specifically drives a craving for sweet, palatable food.”
Nutrition experts urge that mindful eating and really appreciating your food is the most effective way to combat long-term stress and the impacts it has on the body.
“Ideally, you should sit down and enjoy your food, and focus on the tastes, smells, and feel of it, even if it’s just for five minutes,” Ginger Hultin, a registered dietitian nutritionist told Fortune.
